China Could Field New Long-Range Missile on Subs in 2014

U.S. defense insiders said China appears set in 2014 to begin equipping active-duty submarines with a next-generation, long-range ballistic missile, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Tuesday.

“We are anticipating that combat patrols of submarines carrying the new JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile will begin next year,” said one unnamed source said with knowledge of intelligence assessments on the matter.

China is now operating three Jin-class ballistic missile submarines, each with a dozen firing tubes, the Washington Free Beacon said. Beijing plans to assemble two more of the vessels before rolling out the future Type 096 ballistic missile submarine, according to a yearly U.S. Defense Department assessment of Chinese armed forces.

The U.S. Navy's top officer, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, in May told lawmakers he intended to monitor these developments but was not concerned by them, saying, "We own the undersea domain," according to the newspaper.

This article was published in Global Security Newswire,
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